National Theatre

About National Theatre

It is over five decades since the National Theatre Company under Laurence Olivier gave their first-ever performance. Since the opening night of Hamlet, starring Peter O'Toole, on 22 October 1963, the National Theatre has produced well over 800 plays. For its first 13 years, the Company worked at the Old Vic Theatre, while waiting for its new home to be completed. In 1976, under Peter Hall, the move took place and Denys Lasdun's National Theatre building was opened by The Queen.
In each of the years since, the National has staged over twenty new productions. Several different productions can be seen in any one week and there are over 1,000 performances every year, given by a company of 150 actors to over 600,000 people, with many more seeing NT productions in the West End, on tour or via NT Live cinema broadcasts.

Transportation & Parking

Car Park – National Theatre basement, accessed from Upper Ground
Opening times are 7am to 1am.
The entrance ramp to the car park is at the South-West corner of the National Theatre, on Upper Ground, by Theatre Avenue (the road between the National Theatre and the British Film Institute).